MIT researcher Angela Belcher is working to manipulate viruses–yes, the “make you sick” kind–to assemble nanotechnology materials into electronic devices. Apparently, not only are viruses fast-growing and fairly easy to cultivate (well, we all know that much), but they can also combine with semiconductor and electronic materials. How cool is that?

As a result, they can be manipulated into being little “nanotechnology factories”: building batteries, solar cells, transistors, semiconductors–you name it–for use in computers, cell phones, or pretty much anything. Plus, these virus-built batteries and cells are much more eco-friendly (low energy, low waste, biodegradable) than standard electronics, which usually require all manner of toxic chemicals (and large amounts of energy) to assemble.

In a press release, David Rejeski (director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Wilson Center) noted that nanotechnology “offers hope for new, ground-breaking solutions to the world’s energy problems”–including “overcoming many of the obstacles to a hydrogen-based transportation system based on fuel-cell powered cars and trucks.”

Who’d have thought that your cold could contain the keys to a sustainable future?